Robotics and the Personal Assistant of the Future

According to leaders in the artificial intelligence (AI) movement, the world hasn’t seen anything yet when it comes to interacting with and getting advice from bots. Today, people ask questions to Siri or Google Now and get a one-sentence response from information commonly found on the Internet. In the future, bots will assist human beings with making significant life decisions. The conversations will be more complex and the bots will respond based on a series of algorithms.

Instead of simple artificial intelligence, these bots could become valuable personal assistants. For example, they can ask someone the type of merchandise they’re looking for, communicate with a different system to locate and place the order, and deliver the order within hours instead of days.

Companies Working to Make the Personal Assistant Robot a Reality

Jibo, an engineering company based in Boston, is currently accepting pre-orders for a robot of the same name. The robot Jibo lives with his family, gets to know them, and interacts with them in very personal ways. He can do everyday tasks that other robots already do, such as take a picture or send a text message. However, Jibo’s value goes far beyond that. He even gets to know the people his new family cares about to help everyone form closer relationships.

When Jibo senses one of his family is nearby, he may tell a joke, a funny story, or ask a question tailored specifically to that person. Jibo keeps things interesting because no one ever knows what he’s going to do or say.

Autonomous is another company ready to release its version of the personal robot. This robot is an assistant and a friend all in one. It connects to all of its owner’s devices, including outlets, fitness trackers, switches, and locks. A series of advanced algorithms helps keep the home secure as well as dramatically decrease the amount of energy used by the average home. People can give the Autonomous robot personal commands such as:

Set thermostat

Open the door

Turn on the light

Make coffee

Call a cab

Track calories

Take a picture

The longer this bot lives with its human owners, the more it gets to know them and make choices based on their personal preferences. For example, it can pick out the style of music a person likes without him or her having to ask for it. In time, it will be able to detect the mood of everyone in the house and understand exactly what they’re saying. These new waves of robots have unique looks and personalities just as their human owners do.

Robots of the Future Will Even Design Fashionable Clothes

An engineer in Japan who has always loved designing fashion put her two interests together to come up with a fashion-forward, and functional, set of wearable robotic arms. It may not be long before robots take the fashion world by storm, replacing mannequins and even people in some cases.